FLOW UPDATE | Coriolis & Ultrasonic Flowmeters

Coriolis vs. Ultrasonic

Flowmeters
Comparing and contrasting two popular
solutions for flow measurement By Jesse Yoder, Ph.D.

I t is interesting to compare Coriolis and ultrasonic flowme- and then determines how long it takes
ters, as a great deal of new product development is occur- the signal to cross the pipe in the re-
verse direction. The difference between
ring with both of these meter types. In addition, Coriolis these times is proportional to flowrate.
and ultrasonic represent the two fastest growing flowmeter Transit-time ultrasonic flowmeters are
categories—with the possible exception of multiphase flow- mainly used for clean fluids, while Dop-
meters. Both Coriolis and ultrasonic flowmeters are widely pler meters are used for dirty fluids.
used in the oil & gas markets, and both are used for custo- Early Adoption Issues
dy-transfer applications. The following article examines how Ultrasonic flowmeters were introduced
these two meter types are alike, as well as how they differ. by Tokyo Keiki in Japan in 1963, while
Coriolis flowmeters were first brought to
Principle of Operation are bent, some manufacturers have the commercial market in 1977. After
Despite their similarity, Coriolis and also introduced straight-tube Coriolis their introduction, both meters went
ultrasonic flowmeter have very differ- flowmeters. through a difficult acceptance period.
ent principles of operation. Coriolis There are two main types of ultra- Many of the first ultrasonic flowmeters
flowmeters are composed of one or sonic flowmeters—transit time and were clamp-on meters, and end-users
more vibrating tubes—usually bent. The Doppler. Transit-time ultrasonic flowme- had difficulty positioning them cor-
fluid to be measured passes through ters have both a sender and a receiver. rectly. They also were not as accurate
the vibrating tubes. The fluid acceler- They send an ultrasonic signal across a as later inline ultrasonic meters. In
ates as it passes towards the point of pipe at an angle, and measure the time the 1980s, Panametrics (now part of
maximum vibration and decelerates as it takes for the signal to travel from one GE Measurement & Control, www.ge-
it leaves this point. The result is a twist- side of the pipe to the other. When the mcs.com) and Ultraflux (www.ultraflux.
ing motion in the tubes. The degree of ultrasonic signal travels with the flow, net) did research on using ultrasonic
twisting motion is directly proportional it travels faster than when it travels flowmeters for measuring gas flow.
to the fluid’s mass flow. Position detec- against the flow. The ultrasonic flowme- By the 1990s, ultrasonic meters had
tors sense the positions of the tubes. ter determines how long it takes for the advanced technologically to the point
While most Coriolis flowmeter tubes signal to cross the pipe in one direction, where they began receiving wider end-

Shipments of Coriolis Flowmeters Shipments of Ultrasonic Flowmeters

Worldwide by Fluid Type in 2011 Worldwide by Fluid Type in 2011
0.2% 2.1% 17.0%
13.3%
33.2% 41.4%
Petroleum
Petroleum Liquids
Liquids
Non-petroleum
Non-petroleum Liquids
Liquids
Gas
Gas
Steam
Steam
39.5%
53.3%
Source: Flow Research, Inc.

30 | March 2014 Flow Control Magazine

user acceptance.
Early Coriolis flowmeters had technical problems that
interfered with their acceptance. Problems with vibration
made it difficult to maintain zero point stability. End-users
found the large size and weight of even two-inch or four-inch
meters to be prohibitive. Their high price also presented an
issue for many end-users, as Coriolis flowmeters are the
most expensive meter, even today. By the 1990s, some of
the technical issues with Coriolis flowmeters had been re-
solved. In 1994, KROHNE (us.krohne.com) introduced the
first commercially successful straight-tube Coriolis flowme-
ter. This design addressed some problems with fluid build- is
up and pressure drop in bent-tube meters.
Your Signature Here
Differences In Line Size
The most lexible low meter
Coriolis and ultrasonic flowmeters are dramatically different
in terms of line sizes. Over two-thirds of Coriolis meters are Simplify discharge compliance monitoring with
made for line sizes of 2” or less. Until recently, the only the Signature™ meter. Simultaneously collect data
Coriolis flowmeter above 6” was made by Rheonik (now from multiple flow and water quality measurement
part of GE Measurement). In the past five years, three more devices, and automatically generate the required
companies have introduced Coriolis meters for line sizes summary data. Most importantly, Teledyne Isco’s
above 6”. The companies include Micro Motion (a division Signature™ meter electronically verifies the report
of Emerson Process Management, www.micromotion.com), data is authentic and unaltered.
Endress+Hauser (us.endress.com), and KROHNE. These
meters are designed for line sizes of 8” to 16”, and they are The Signature™ meter:
mainly designed for custody transfer of oil and gas. While
their price tag can be as high as $75,000, higher oil prices, ■ Eliminates data collection from
and the increased value of natural and industrial gas, have multiple independent sources
made it beneficial for some companies to pay for the higher
accuracy afforded by these large Coriolis meters. ■ Reduces data aggregation and spreadsheet
While Coriolis meters excel in the lower line sizes, ultra- processing to produce the report data
sonic meters do best in line sizes of 4” and up. The larger
diameters make the differences in transit time of the ultra- ■ Avoids processing errors and prevents data
sonic signal easier to detect, although they can perform well manipulation with verifiable data
in smaller line sizes. Ultrasonic meters do not have the large
Ultrasonic Bubbler pH SDI-12 Modbus
line size limit that Coriolis meters have, and it is common for
them to be made in sizes from 12” to 42”, or even larger.
Insertion ultrasonic meters can be used in pipes of any size,
though so far no one has made an insertion Coriolis meter.
Likewise, clamp-on ultrasonic meters give ultrasonic tech-
nology more versatility in check metering and temporary
measurements. There is no clamp-on Coriolis flowmeter.
Generate veriied
summary data for
your DMR with ease.
Both Flowmeter Types Benefit from
Industry Approvals
Custody transfer of natural gas is a fast-growing market,
especially with the increased popularity of natural gas as an
energy source. Natural gas changes hands, or ownership,
at a number of points between the producer and the end- For more information contact Teledyne Isco:
user. These transfers are called custody-transfer points, and http://info.teledyneisco.com/signaturefc
they are tightly regulated by standards groups such as the
American Gas Association (AGA, www.aga.org). Other geo-
graphic regions have their own regulatory bodies.
One important function of the AGA and the American
Petroleum Institute (API, www.api.org) is to establish stan-
dards or criteria for sellers and buyers to follow when trans-
Write in 21 or Request Info Instantly at www.FlowControlNetwork.com/freeinfo

www.flowcontrolnetwork.com March 2014 | 31

 | Coriolis & Ultrasonic Flowmeters
FLOW UPDATE continued

ferring ownership of natural gas and petroleum liquids from transfer of natural gas. Multipath meters are required for cus-
one party to another. In the past, these groups have pub- tody transfer of natural gas. The price tag on many of these
lished reports on the use of orifice-plate meters and turbine multipath meters is in the range of $35,000 to $40,000.
meters for use in the custody transfer of natural gas. The Coriolis meters can measure gas flow, but it is not an ideal
importance of these reports is illustrated by the example of application for them. Gas is not as dense as liquids, and Co-
ultrasonic flowmeters. In the mid-1990s, a European asso- riolis meters rely on the momentum of the fluid to create the
ciation of natural gas producers called Groupe Europeen de deflection necessary to measure flow. Even though gas is not
Recherche GaziSres (GERG) issued a report laying out crite- the ideal medium for Coriolis meters, they have still had sig-
ria to govern the use of ultrasonic flowmeters in the custody nificant success in measuring gas flow.
transfer of natural gas. This resulted in a substantial boost
in the sales of ultrasonic flowmeters for this purpose in Eu- Neither Meter Does Well with Steam Flow
rope. In June 1998, the AGA issued AGA Report 9, which also While suppliers of Coriolis meters have tried to develop
gave criteria for using ultrasonic flowmeters in natural gas meters to measure steam, they have not been very suc-
custody-transfer situations. This caused a substantial boost cessful so far. Like gas, steam is not as dense as water, and
in the sales of these meters for that purpose, especially in it is difficult to generate the necessary fluid momentum to
the U.S. The market for using ultrasonic meters to measure deflect the meter sufficiently for a reliable flow measurement.
natural gas for custody transfer is one of the fastest growing In addition, the temperatures and pressures of some steam
segments of the flowmeter market. may exceed the tolerance measurement. The temperatures
The AGA approved a report on the use of Coriolis flowme- and pressures of some steam applications also exceed the
ters for custody transfer of natural gas in 2003. This report limits of some Coriolis flowmeters, but steam measurement
is called AGA-11, and it is, in part, responsible for the over- may be an area of future development for Coriolis flowmeter
all positive growth rate of Coriolis flowmeters, which are now suppliers.
widely used for natural gas custody-transfer applications. Even Ultrasonic flowmeter suppliers have had more success in
though it often takes some time for end-users to adopt a new measuring steam. For example, GE Measurement & Control
technology, this report has provided a significant boost to the has developed several ultrasonic meters that can measure
use of Coriolis flowmeters for natural gas flow measurement. steam flow. However, ultrasonic meters still account for a very
The API has issued a draft standard entitled Measurement small portion of those meters used to measure steam, as
of Single-Phase, Intermediate, and Finished Hydrocarbon Flu- differential-pressure (DP) and vortex flowmeters remain the
ids by Coriolis Meters. This document was added to the API dominant technologies used to measure steam flow.
Library in July 2012. A second draft standard called Measure-
ment of Crude Oil by Coriolis Meters has also been approved Where Do We Go From Here?
by the API. It is curious that two types of flowmeters could be so much
alike and yet so different. For Coriolis flowmeters, the fron-
Ultrasonic Meters Do Well On Both Liquid tiers of development are larger line sizes, developing lighter
and Gas and smaller meters, creating more accurate Coriolis meters
Both ultrasonic and Coriolis flowmeters do well on liquids. for gas flow, and developing steam flowmeters. For ultrasonic
Ultrasonic meters are widely used on both hydrocarbon meters, frontiers of development include getting more accu-
liquids and on water, and they perform well on both. racy and performance out of multipath flowmeters, develop-
Multipath ultrasonic flowmeters, meaning those with three ing more accurate clamp-on flowmeters, having more calibra-
or more paths, are used to measure the custody transfer tion labs built, and improving steam flow measurement. FC
of hydrocarbon liquids. Coriolis flowmeters are widely used
to measure hydrocarbon liquids, especially for distribution Jesse Yoder, Ph.D., is president of
purposes downstream from a refinery. Many of these are Flow Research Inc. in Wakefield, Mass.,
custody-transfer applications. Coriolis flowmeters are less He has 25 years of experience as an
widely used in the water and wastewater industry because analyst in process control. Dr. Yoder can
the type of accuracy they afford is often not required in water be reached at jesse@flowresearch.com.
and wastewater applications at this time. This may change For more on Flow Research’s work in the
in the future. area of Coriolis and ultrasonic flow mea-
Ultrasonic meters excel in measuring the flow of natural surement, visit www.flowcoriolis.com and
gas. They are widely used for custody transfer of natural gas Jesse Yoder www.flowultrasonic.com.
on pipeline transmission lines, where the pipe sizes can get
quite large. The AGA-9 Report approves them for custody www.flowresearch.com

FLOWSTREAM Find related content @ flowcontrolnetwork.com…Search on:

Flow Measurement | Coriolis Flowmeter | Custody Transfer | Jesse Yoder | Ultrasonic Flowmeter

32 | March 2014 Flow Control Magazine